Kang Dae-sung (Hangul: 강대성; born April 26, 1989), better known mononymously as Daesung and his Japanese stage name D-Lite, is a South Korean singer and television personality who made his musical debut in 2006 as a member of the South Korean boy band Big Bang. He debuted as a solo artist in South Korea with the number one trot song "Look at Me, Gwisoon" in 2008. Since the inception of the Gaon Digital Chart in 2010, Daesung achieved two Top 10 songs, the digital single "Cotton Candy" and "Wings" from the BigBang album Alive (2012).
In 2013, he released his first solo album in Japan, D'scover and embarked on his first Japanese tour. The following year, he released two more albums, D'slove and his first chart-topper, Delight. D'slove Tour made him the first Korean soloist to gather over 100,000 fans for two Japanese tours in a row. In 2017, he held his first solo Japanese dome tour, performing for over 150,000 people from four shows, and released his second number one album, D-Day, that made him the second foreign male solo artist to have two consecutive number one albums in Japan after Michael Jackson.
In South Korean television, he was a part of the main cast of the top-rated comedy show Family Outing from 2008 to 2010, the musical drama series What's Up (2011), and was one of the hosts of the talk show Night After Night (2010).
Life and career
1989–2007: Early life and debut with Big Bang
Kang Dae-sung was born in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood, and since a young age he acquired an interest in becoming a singer. To overcome the objection of his parents who were strongly against the idea, he left home for a week to get his permission. Kang continued to pursue his goal and was recruited by YG Entertainment as a trainee after succeeding in an audition. Later, he started using his first name, Daesung, as his stage name and was paired with five more trainees (G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Seungri and Hyunseung) to integrate the formation of the boy group Big Bang. The formation of the group was documented on television, but prior to their official debut, Jang was dropped and BigBang debuted in 2006 with five members. BigBang made their first appearance as a group on August 19, 2006, at YG Family's 10th Anniversary concert.
BigBang's debut was fairly successful, with their first studio album, Big Bang Vol.1 - Since 2007, getting sales of over 100,000 copies. The album also contains Daesung's first solo song "Try Smiling" (Korean: 웃어본다; Revised Romanization: Useo Bonda) and was preceded by three single albums: "Big Bang", "Big Bang is V.I.P" and "Big Bang 03", released the same year. The group's breakthrough came with the release of their first extended play, Always (2007), which included the number one single "Lies" (Korean: 거짓말; rr: Geojitmal). The song went on to top major Korean music charts for a record-breaking seven consecutive weeks, [3] and won the group the Song of the Year award at the 9th Mnet Korean Music Festival.[4] Their following EPs followed its predecessor's footsteps: Hot Issue yielded "Last Farewell" (Korean: 마지막 인사; rr: Majimak Insa) while Stand Up spawned "Day by Day" (Korean: 하루하루; rr: Haru Haru); both singles were chart-toppers.
Shortly after the debut of BigBang, Daesung was diagnosed with voice chord nodules and developed sociophobia and stage fright. However, he was able to recover with the help of fellow singer and label-mate Gummy, who had been previously diagnosed with the illness.
2008–2009: Solo career development, Family Outing and Cats
Daesung released his first trot single "Look at Me, Gwisoon" (Korean: 날봐, 귀순; rr: Nal Bwa Gwisun) in 2008. He stated that although he was worried about dampening the group's image, he wanted to try something different. The same year, he joined the SBS reality variety show Family Outing as a permanent cast member. He also made his musical debut in Korean production of Cats, playing the role of Rum Tum Tugger. Daesung then became a host for MBC's music program Show! Music Core, alongside fellow member Seungri.